The Tijuana Civil Engineers Association (CICTAC) will reactivate its Bridge Commission to evaluate the structural condition of bridges in the Zona Río district, one of the city’s most heavily trafficked commercial corridors. CICTAC president Francisco Javier Franco Casas announced the commission will be operational within days.
The first phase of inspections will focus on bridges in the initial section of Zona Río, where most structures are already showing visible signs of deterioration, according to Franco Casas. The area spans several blocks along the channelized Río Tijuana and carries tens of thousands of vehicles daily between central Tijuana, the San Ysidro border crossing, and the Otay Mesa area.
A History of Bridge Concerns in Tijuana
This is not the first time Tijuana’s bridges have drawn professional concern. After a 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck the region in April 2022, the city partially closed the Los Olivos Bridge on Río Tijuana after cracks appeared in the structure. Engineer César Ulises López Torres, a member of a bridge committee and professor at the Technological University of Tijuana, identified structural deficiencies at the time.
Municipal Civil Protection crews reviewed other structures in the Río Tijuana Urban Zone after that quake but reported no other damage. The new CICTAC inspection appears to be the first comprehensive, engineer-led review of the Zona Río bridges since then.
What Drivers and Pedestrians Should Know
Zona Río is home to shopping centers, restaurants, government offices, and the Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT). Drivers crossing the area use several bridges that span the concrete-lined river channel. If inspectors find serious structural problems, closures or weight restrictions could force traffic onto alternate routes through an already congested grid.
The announcement comes as Tijuana’s infrastructure is undergoing major changes elsewhere in the city. The first stage of the new elevated viaduct along Avenida Internacional opened in January 2026, covering 7.2 kilometers and designed to carry 25,000 vehicles per day. That project cost roughly 12 billion pesos (about $650 million USD). But while new construction grabs headlines, the aging bridges in Zona Río have received little public attention for years.
Franco Casas did not specify how many bridges the commission plans to inspect in total or provide a timeline for completing the review. He also did not say whether the commission would coordinate with municipal or state government agencies on repairs.
This story was first reported by Zeta Tijuana.